The Curious Incident of the "Girl" Who Won the Daughters of the Confederacy Essay Contest

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Featured Book Reviewer
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Location
Long Island, NY
I brought this matter up on a different thread that included a discussion of United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) essay contests and it seemed like an interesting topic to spin off into its own thread.

The UDC sponsored a lot of essay contests to encourage young people to learn “the true history” of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Funny story is that at one point they sponsored a contest in NYC overseen by prominent academics. The college girl who won wrote that Lee had committed treason. That contest was discontinued.

The contest was in 1907. Leonora Schuyler of the UDC sat on the judging committee as did Edward Alderman, president of the University of Virginia, C.A. Smith President of the University of North Carolina, and John Finley, president of the City College of NY. The winner was a Columbia Teachers' College student named Christine Boyson. Her essay was entitled "Robert E. Lee: A Present Estimate." 1907 was the Centennial of Lee's birth.

After I posted that info, several folks contributed information on the controversy.
 
You must log in or register to view this reply.
 

Attachments

  • nd4.JPG
    nd4.JPG
    80.8 KB · Views: 58
  • nd5.JPG
    nd5.JPG
    30.3 KB · Views: 51
Back
Top